joked that clinton should be the secretary of explaining stuff. well, the man who may be able to sell obama's policies better than he can, today he takes on the task of defending the president's health care law amid xwroeg opposition. the photos can he can't stop talking about. these are all alligators. we'll hear from the man who caught them coming up and there is controversy surrounding this sport. let answer get straight to the breaking news out of ohio, arial castro found dead in his prison cell. castro, who held three cleveland women captain over a decade apparently hanged himself in his cell a month after he was sentenced to life plus 1,000 years for his crimes. pamela brown following the story for us. >> yet another shocking, bizarre twist in the story. ariel castro convicted of rapes and kidnapping three women for more than a decade has been in

state prison for less that be 30 days. this morning is he dead after hanging himself inside his cell. ariel castro's last public words delivered a month ago >> i'm not a monster. i'm a normal person. i am just sick. i just act on sexual instincts. >> reporter: last night he was discovered at 9:20 hanging in his jail cell at the correctional receptions cell near columbus. he had been sentenced to life in prison plus 1,000 years for kidnapping and sexually assaulting three women over a decade. he was being held in protective history, the only one in his cell with guards checking on him every 30 minutes. prison medical staff tried to revive him and rushed him to the ohio state university medical center. he was pronounced dead at 10:52 p.m. he received few visitors in prison. he kaudaughter told hicnn in ma

wanted nothing to do with him. >> i have no problem cutting him out of my life. i have no problem doing that. i never want to see him again. >> reporter: earlier this month, the house where castro tortured his victims was torn down. neighbors rejoicing during the demolition of the so-called house of horrors. at his sentencing he apologized to his victims but remained defiant keeping gina dejesus and amanda berry and michelle knight locked up in his house for around a decade. >> i have a family. every time i came home, i would be so blessed for the situation. as crazy as it would sound. i am truly sorry for what happened. to this day i'm trying to answer my own questions. i don't know why. >> reporter: only one of his victims showed up in person to confront him saying she wanted him to spend the rest of his life in prison.

>> the death penalty would be so much easier. you don't deserve that. i spent 11 years in hell. now your hell is just beginning. >> reporter: for his three former captives, ariel castro's death is yet another gruesome chapter in a tragic story. ohio state and the department of corrections are investigating this death. again he was in isolation and checked on every 30 minutes but he was not on suicide watch. still so many unanswered questions here, chris. we're digging into this, making calls this morning. the irony is that this plea deal was worked out. the big sticking point was the death penalty. they took that off the table. he was sentenced to life in prison plus 1,000 years. now we're learning he died of an apparent suicide. >> his lawyers worked hard to avoid the death penalty under instructions of their client and he takes his own life, we don't know if it's irony or what happened to him once he was incarcerated. 30 minutes they're supposed to check, assuming even they did

it, people may not know you can hang yourself quickly. >> we've talked about this, you've covered similar stories where inmates on death row, what they go through psychologically, how this could happen, we heard him there at his sentencing and less than a month later he takes his observe life. >> big question will be what was going on inside his mind, where he arrived that he decided to do this. we're trying to get insight from the family. maria castro montez is the cousin of ariel castro. she said she cried when she found out he killed him. earlier she spoke with "early start's" zoraida sambolin by phone. >> one of my initial thoughts was did he really do this to himself or could possibly someone else have gotten to him. you know, obviously it is a jail. there's a lot of criminals behind those bars and even some of those criminals and some of the horrible things they may have done obviously probably

were not as bad as some of the things he did. people always have an eye out for someone that has done something as horrible as these things that he's done. so i really have to wonder, but you know, i guess at this point it doesn't really matter. you know, they say that suicide is a cowardly thing, and obviously he took the coward's way out. i still really find it hard to believe that after everything he did, that he somehow mustered up the strength or the so-called courage to take his own life. somehow i just find that hard to believe. >> i'm sure many do. zoraida joins us now. clarify a couple things, explain what the tears were about and any information about where castro's head was while in prison. >> the tears, i wasn't surprised. i spent a lot of time with this family when i was in cleveland.

they grew up together and so maria's memories of ariel are of growing up together, of the kids together so that's what she was mourning. the whole family has been mourning the man that they thought they knew, not the man that he is or he became so that's what she said, i just needed to let that out and so that's why the tears were there. as far as where his head was, because we talked about, i said well what do you think happened, and we talked quite a bit on the phone and she said this isn't sitting right with me because i don't think he was courageous enough to do something like this. we've been talking about this all night, what happened in that jail cell. it doesn't make sense to the family that he would have taken his life. he wasn't on suicide watch, not at that point. he was earlier, but still she thought that seemed implausible so they need to hear more about the investigation and what was happening. >> this kind of goes to, it kind of continues the conversation about how it was in the courtroom, when he made that

disjointed and really difficult to follow and convoluted statement in the courtroom after his sentencing. this kind of -- there is a lot obviously to this man that you cannot make sense of and i don't think anyone wants to make sense of and this adds to that. >> she talked about and talked about the fact she felt he's not right, he's definitely disturbed but when you talk about taking your own life, she just thought that seemed implausible and that she needed to hear a lot more from investigators on what actually happened in there. this is a family, a community that just has been mourning for so long, the loss of the girls originally and they thought they had found one of the girls in the community and the stigma for them in the community, so to them it is one more layer that they weren't anticipating. >> suicide is often pain, right, as opposed to power, and things can happen in prison. this man was clearly living a delusion about himself and what

was going on in his home, and with all that time, to do nothing but think about who you really are and what you really did, he may have arrived at some conclusions about himself that he couldn't live with. >> one thing, chris, this was important, the first thing when i asked her, i said how do you feel? she said "i feel for the girls. i want to know how they're feeling." that was the first thing that came out of her mouths, the three girls, ariel castro's mother and what she is going through. i want to make sure initially it was not a selfish thought, it was all about them. >> there are a lot of victims. >> let me add to that, i spoke to a family friend of gina dejesus and i'm told they are aware of what happened. i don't know about the other two victims but the concern is that this is just bringing this back up to the surface, the women trying to move on and now this. >> they wanted had imto spend the rest of his life in prison paying for his crime so that's something that they have to deal with. >> the focus though, good point, should remain on the victims and for them and the recovery going

forward. >> thank you. let's turn to the other big story we're watching this morning, the crisis unfolding in syria, president obama touching down in stockholm hours ago set to make his case against allies in europe arguing for the need for a strike on syria. the senate foreign relations committee is said to take up a revised bill that would limit authorization for any attack to 60 days with an option for an additional 30-day deadline if needed and finally an important point, no boots on the ground. we've got the syrian crisis covered like no other network can. let's start with senior white house correspondent brianna keilar live traveling with the president in stockholm this morning. good morning, brianna. >> reporter: good morning to you, kate. you know, this visit of the president's to sweden is actually supposed to be very much a social visit but the issue of syria will be following him here. the swedish prime minister,

frederick rhinefeld would like to see a diplomatic solution over a military solution to the crisis in syria. in their discussions that could very likely come out and after his trip here, president obama will head to st. petersburg, russia, for the g-20 summit. syria is going to dominate unofficially and the conversations that are had on the margins when world leaders pull each other aside and have some informal discussions in the corridors of that summit and the president's visit here to sweden coming as vladimir putin, russian president, has given an interview to the associated press. he says it's absurd to think that syrian president bashar al assad used chemical weapons against his own people and said that russia, if that were proven, would be open to some u.n. action. white house officials traveling with president obama find those

comments to be disingenuous and are standing by their intelligence. they say it is assad who used chemical weapons on his own people. chris, back to you. >> brianna, thank you. yet real questions about what the case and proof is, that's why what's going down in congress ever more important. less than three hours the senate foreign relations committee will begin tackling a measure that could lead to u.s. military strikes against the syrian regime. let's dig deeper into the plan and what the political groundwork is with cnn's new chief national security kerry, hagel and dempsey could expect even tougher questioning than they did, a bipartisan agreement had been drafted authorizing the

use of force which the senate committee will take up today. the revised authorization limits strikes against syria to 60 days with an expectatioption for an l 30 days. it bans u.s. troops on the ground but it would permit a rescue mission if needed. the bill comes after three veterans who know the immense cost of war delivered an impassioned case to senators, military action is right and necessary. are you going to be comfortable if assad as a result of the united states not doing anything then gases his people yet again and they the world says, why didn't the united states act? >> reporter: attempting to thread a political needle, the administration had something for supporters and skeptics of military action. strict limits on the scope and duration of any attack, for hawks, reassurance that the administration's larger strategy also includes strengthening the

syrian opposition, but the administration faced hard questions from both sides. senator rand paul demanding the president abide by the congressional vote, win or lose. >> if we do not say that the constitution applies f we do not say explicitly that we will abide by this vote you're making a joke of us. you're making us into theater. >> senator, a sure you there's nothing meaningless and there is everything real -- >> only if our vote makes a difference. >> reporter: from senator mccain, long a supporter of more vigorous involvement, bitter criticism of the president's decision to delay military action as he seeks congressional approval. >> when you tell the enemy you're going to attack them they're going to disperse and try to make it harder. >> reporter: the president received two powerful endorsements for military action, john boehner and eric

cantor saying they will back him. the public is skeptical of military action in syria. >> jim, we have the public perception and the rationale for doing it but ultimately in politics it comes down to the votes. thank you for the reporting. we'll get back to you later on in the show. let's see where the tally lies. will congress ultimately have the votes to authorize use of military force against syria? cnn has been tallying the votes. in the house, 18 democrats and six republicans are backing the president. 17 democrats and 50 republicans are against him. and over 300 lawmakers are either undecided or their feelings as of yet unknown. we unusual. in the senate, 14 democrats, five republicans support a strike against syria. two democrats, seven republicans do not with 70 senators still undecided. remember the magic number there 60, why, avoid filibuster, not just the majority but make sure this vote is one and done. in the next hour we're going to talk life with the chairman of

the senate foreign relations committee, senator robert menendez. >> a lot more ahead. a lot of news is developing at this hour, straight to michaela for the latest headlines. the huge rim fire burning near yosemite national fire is slowing down, almost 80% contained. authorities lifted evacuation orders and advisories in the area. power plant damaged in the fire is back on line. that power plant supplies some of san francisco's electricity. investigators are working to find out how the fire started. one fire chief is blaming marijuana growers. a montana judge ordered a new sentencing hearing for stacy rambold, who admitted to raping a 14-year-old student who later committed suicide. the judge saying the 30-day sentence he imposed last week may be illegal. he apologized for saying the 14-year-old girl was as much in control of the situation as rambold. a new twist in the bitter

custody battle over a little girl named veronica. the court issued an emergency stay that allows her to stay with her biological father for the moment. four other courts including the u.s. supreme court said veronica should be returned to her adoptive parents in south carolina. that state is asking the oklahoma courts to lift the stay. we'll bring you much more on the story later in the show. this would have been a heck of a way to go, a surfboard came like if out of the blue onto a honolulu highway, smashed into a driver's windshield. the driver is okay, just some scrapes on his face and arms. police are trying to determine who owns that board and what happened to it besides ending up on a windshield. this is the stuff dreams are made of, a treasure hunting family hits the jackpot off the florida coast finding 64 feet of gold chain, five gold coins and a gold ring, all believed to be from spanish ships that went down in a hurricane back in

1715. get this, that haul could be worth $300,000. rick and lisa schmidt says money is not their first priority. lisa says her greatest treasure is time with the family. they are amateur treasure seekers and it really paid off. >> the payoff is so sweet. >> the metaphor of the pot of gold, that is living the dream. >> literally. now they're going to keep searching for it, like that good golf game. >> it's never enough. the eternal quest for more. >> good stuff. let's get straight to indra petersons and find out if there's more good stuff at least in the forecast. good morning. >> good morning, i thought you were going to say you wanted more rain. i totally misunderstood. my bad. down in the southeast the leftovers from the storm a couple of days ago, still staying in place, one to two inches possible in the southeast as it hangs on for the next several days. in the northeast mid-atlantic another cold front making its

way through, notice a dry front. just some spotty showers overnight tonight in through tomorrow morning. the biggest change, you're going to feel this, are the temperatures. notice what they are like now. today, 82 degrees in new york, 76 there in burlington. by tomorrow we're going to talk about below normal temperatures in new york city. cool 60s now over into the northeast, that's not the only thing, it's the overnight lows are going to drop as well. the humidity numbers are high today but by tomorrow before we go to the overnight hours we could drop down to 30% and 40% which means we may have frost so that's totally what you were talking about. >> sorry, what? >> bye-bye sum per. >> get used to that part. >> thanks, indra. coming up on "new day," syria not the only thing on the government's agenda. critical component of the president's health care reforms set to kick in, in less than four weeks and polls show most of us still in the dark about

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welcome back to "new day." a story out of the white house and not about syria. the white house is using their secret weapon today to promote president obama's health care law. former president bill clinton is delivering a major speech this morning on the health care law. millions of americans will be eligible to sign up in about a month and it's clinton's job to clear up any confusion and a big job that is indeed.

cnn's athena jones is in washington with more. what do we know? >> good morning, chris. this is a big job. this speech comes as a new poll shows more than 50% of americans don't understand the health care law, that's proof that it still needs selling three years after it passed and in the white house's view who better to help sell it than president clinton. when president clinton takes the stage to sell the affordable care act today it won't be his first turn as salesman for the white house. president obama may be the commander in chief, but the former president has shown he just might be the explainer in chief. at the democratic national convention last summer, he gave a passionate defense of the administration's policies, including obama care. >> for the last two years, health care costs have been under 4% in both years for the first time in 50 years. let me ask you something, are we

better off because president obama fought for health care reform? you bet we are! >> reporter: prmompting this response. >> somebody e-mailed me after his speech and said you need to appoint him secretary of explaining stuff. >> reporter: and he went to bat for mr. obama in 2010. >> i feel awkward being here and now you're going to leave me all by myself? >> reporter: speaking to white house reporters alone for half an hour to push a tax cut deal with republicans. now the challenge is to sell this very controversial piece of the president's domestic agenda, and a law vital to his legacy. today's speech comes as republicans, like senator ted cruz, keep up their opposition to the bill. >> we have been getting calls from people saying, please, stop obama care. please stop this train wreck. >> reporter: and as gop senator marco rubio blasted the

administration for plans to spend $8.7 million taxpayer dollars on ads promoting the law. now polls are still very much divided on the health care law and the majority of young people and the uninsured say they don't have enough information on it so president clinton and the obama administration still have a big job ahead. back to you, chris, kate? >> athena, thank you for reporting. coming up next on "new day," what happened to the american flag in this iconic 9/11 photo? officials say it just vanished. well now cnn is on the case. the latest on the search ahead. and then it is our must see moment. can you guess what's happening here in this photo? here's a hint. it's a top senator's cell phone. hmm. [ male announcer ] if your kid can recognize your sneeze from a crowd...

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>> announcer: you're watching "new day" with chris cuomo, kate bolduan and michaela pereira. >> good morning and welcome back to "new day." it's wednesday, september 4th. let's get to michaela for your top stories. following breaking news, notorious cleveland kidnaper ariel castro is dead, found hanging in his prison cell. ohio's department of corrections reviewing what exactly happened saying castro was in his own cell in protective custody and rounds were being made as staggered intervals every half hour. he was sentenced to life plus 1,000 years for the kidnapping, rape and assault of michelle knight, gina dejesus and berry.

an option for an additional 30 days after 60 days for a syria strike with no troops on the ground. the three are set to testify before the house foreign affairs committee. the japanese government jumping in to help with the ongoing dast disaster at the fukushima nuclear plant, promised nearly $500 million to stop radioactive water from leaking. officials found radiation levels near the water tanks keeps going up and could kill a person within hours. there is talk of freezing the ground around the plant in order to keep the water from seeping into the pacific. if you are tempted to scream and yell at your teenagers you may want to stop, count to ten and tone it down, so says a new study founding screaming, cursing and criticizing your teens to make them behave can make them dprelsed a edepressed likely misbehave. most parents can't help going off on their teens at some point

but a pattern of loud insults can do damage. three staff at a shoe store quit their jobs, they locked up and walked out in the middle of the day posting this huge note telling their district manager they've had it with the abuse for their part journey's management put out a statement saying we take this situation very seriously and are currently investigating this issue. beyond this, we have no comment." talk about sticking it to the man. >> how rough could it get in a shoe store. >> have you ever worked in a shoe store? >> no. >> exactly. >> you were about to get on the soap box. >> yes, well, no. >> did john king work in a shoe store at one point in his life? >> let's find out. time for the political gut check, first the senate considers a new compromise bill to authorize military force in syria. will it win votes in the skeptical house? here on set i'm either in trouble or this is a good thing,

can't tell yet. chief national correspondent john king. >> long list of people in d.c. say you left owing them money. >> my loans and all of my debts shall be paid at some later date, that's for sure. obviously we've been talking about this all week but now you've got the president appearing in a better position over the weekend, congressional leaders on both sides coming out to support the resolution of force. how much does that help him, though, because it's still a big climb. >> he has a big climb in the house. the president needs a series of good and strong days to keep building. yesterday getting speaker boehner is huge. will it give a republican leader willing to plant the flag early. nancy pelosi has gone on notice the former democratic leader sent a dear colleague letter out critical. dennis kusinich saying vote no, we don't need another war. leader pelosi's endorsement and

war frying to bring anti-war liberals on board. they say this is up to the president and it's going to be interesting while he's overseas if can he continue to make the case. lot of the guys are coming back to washington and 15 or 20 or maybe 30% of the people back home support this. would you think a decision about syria is not guided by public opinion polls but these are politicians. the safe vote at the moment is no. >> i think it's interesting that this all came about while members were home in their districts so they are hearing right away directly from the constituents in the latest polling shows that the american people have little appetite for this. six in ten don't want the u.s. to go in. >> even after the hearing yesterday where secretary hagel and secretary kerry, general dempsey tried to make the public case, which is important, i talked to aides on cap top hill and they say everybody who calls in or returns is saying nobody, nobody back home supports this. it's going to be interesting with the president on the world stage, with the votes coming,

the senate will vote tuesday or wednesday, the house will come after that, he'll be overseas for a good chunk of the rampup time. how does he use the global platform to speak to the american people. >> his overseas g-20 summit we're hearing he will likely have an on the margins conversation with vladimir putin but after the interview he did with the associated press, is the president likely to change any opinion and get putin even close to being on board or to change his position on syria? >> there's no hope of bringing putin on board and this relationship we used to call it frosty, i call it frozen. it's broken, whether it's edward snowden or now syria, a long list of other issues. in the interview with the associated press putin said we disagree on things, we get mad but it's okay, we'll figure it out. putin, it's nothing but a clever and smart politician, he knows the president will be in his country, trying to be more muted in his criticism. putin also says in the interview where's the proof? i don't see any firm proof the regime did this.

maybe they did this, maybe they didn't. >> the focus clearly needs to come quickly. >> he has to move some of the numbers in public opinion. he's not getting majority support in the country but to get 10 or 15 votes in the house. he'll need it. >> we've also seen the polls move for foreign cooperation. they jumped ten points, ten points, not 10% so he needs to get them abroad to do it. putin is making a strong point. the international community is waiting for proof. we know what happened with iraq. it matters. the u.n. hasn't come forward and said they know what happens yet. >> huge test for the president and comes at a moment where it could affect other things, spending and immigration are not related to syria but because we are close to the midterm election and the six-year itch,

close to when people say lame duck, how this plays after the president will have a huge impact on the trajectory of the term. >> maybe why it's not a coincidence democrats favoring the attack, republicans against it. >> most democrats are loyal. it would be interesting to watch the house vote. >> a strange world we live in, the democrats are more hawkish than republicans. >> still here to collect that money. >> don't go home. >> i'll find it in a shoe store after the show. >> exactly. coming up, john king takes the impossible task of collecting money from kate bolduan. when we come back, one of the unforgettable photo, the ground zero workers raising the flag after the 9/11 aing ta, now the flag is missing. we have the latest on the search.

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welcome back. have you heard about this story? cnn's been following the mystery of a missing american flg, the centerpiece of this iconic image from 9/11, similar to the famous scene of marines from iwo jima of world war ii. it was a symbol of hope and resilience. now it's disappeared. the hunt for it is on, tips are flooding in. jason carroll is here. >> like most people i didn't realize the flag was missing but it is and i saw this documentary. it's really an incredible piece of work. the documentary is called "the flag" an insightful look at the search for an item that became an iconic picture and gave millions a sense of hope. >> it deserves to be up in the sky. >> reporter: it was the image seen around the world, three

firefighters raising this flag from the rubble of ground zero, the photo taken on the afternoon of september 11th, 2001. >> everything had this grayish-blue tint to it and there you see the red, white and blue. >> and i sat there and i said, that's an incredible picture and danielle has standing behind me and she said that's not a picture, it's an icon. >> reporter: an iconic image that became the symbol of american resolve. >> my goodness. that was quite a picture. whoever thought of just taking it at exactly that time or the firefighters in doing it performed a tremendous service for the country. ♪ of the free >> reporter: in the weeks and months to come americans saw what they thought was the 9/11 flag raised at the world series. and on battleships in the middle east, but it went he, as revealed in a cnn films documentary "the flag." >> we knew right away it was the wrong flag. >> this is another flag that

somehow became substituted for the original flag. where is the original flag? >> reporter: the documentary tracing the flag from the original owners to many who believe they had contact with it. the film's director says the documentary is not only about the mystery of the flag but what it represents. >> that sense of unity, that sense of how we felt in those days and weeks after 9/11, and that's really something that we've also lost. >> reporter: the film not only trying to recapture that feeling but trying to help put an end to the mystery. cnn has already received some credible tips but so far none have led to the authentic patriotic symbol of that fateful day in american history. so if you have a tip you think could help find the flag, go to cnn.com/theflag and click on the link and tell us what you know or send an e-mail to findtheflag@cnn.com. once again, once you see this documentary, you realize it's not just about the flag. it's also about what it

represented to so many people >> absolutely. we remember. we were there watching what happened and how much it meant. now when we talk to the producer of the documentary we got the sense that there was going to be a development here any time soon. how lost are we? >> one can hope. one can hope. again, some tips have come in, hopefully once the documentary is out there, more people get a chance to see it, hopefully more tips will come in, dlak nut, find out where it is. >> i thought i was alone on this but you were saying the same thing, i had no idea it was missing. >> i'm like you. most people like us, we thought we were looking at the original 9/11 flag, it wasn't it. >> wow. >> yes. >> it is fascinating but still that iconic photo, no one will ever forget that. thanks, jason. >> you bet. coming up next on "new day," much more on the breaking news out of ohio in the death of ariel astro at the top of the hour. first the next big thing from samsung, set to unveil its gallon ax i-gear smartwatch which can do pretty much

everything. we'll get a sneak peek. and a senator busted. wait until you hear which senator was caught, what he was doing on his iphone during yesterday's congressional hearing. >> and he's owning it. >> on syria. >> he's got to own it. he's got proof. this was the hardest decision i've ever had to make. jim, i adore the pool at your hotel. anna, your hotels have wondrous waffle bars. ryan, your hotels' robes are fabulous. i have twelve of them. twelve? shhhh, i'm worth it&

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welcome back. welcome back. my fellow geeks the long awaited samsung galaxy gear smartwatch being unveiled today. analysts are wondering whether it will spark watch wars with google or apple. joining success cnn business correspondent alison kosik. it feels like the stuff of

science fiction. the smartwatches are ready but the question is are we? >> hollywood has been getting consumers ready for years. case in point "star trek" roll it. >> from this time forward, will you service us. >> ahh, yes, life imitating art. we are watching on to that. if you need any more evidence of the interest in this, look at research. juniper research found 36 million of the smartwatches are projected to be delivered within the next five years, compared to that a little over a million. lot of big companies jumping on the band wagon and microsoft, samsung, dell, google, all want a piece of the pie. >> let's talk about the watch itself. is this going to be a smartphone on our wrist? seems like a lot to put on my delicate wrist. >> here are the specs from venture beat.

it's chunky so i don't know who would want to wear it. >> big watches are in. >> put away the cartier and put this on. it's supposed to handle phone calls, web serving, e-mails, supposed to have an l.e.d. type display, may have a camera. the pricing looks like for this samsung about $200, that looks like it will be less than what apple may come out with its iwatch rumored to come out at the end of the year. >> what is the good/bad. it's kind of big but also small in terms of using it as a screen. what does it do, not do? >> the small screen is sort of a downside to it, also the idea with these companies is to replace your iphone with this watch so i don't see myself going, chris, let's meet for a drink around the corner, over. do you want to be talking into your match? you kind of become a slave to charging the battery, just like you charge your phone every day you have to charge your watch. also you look at the current crop of the wearable smartphones or wearable watches. they're companion devices, not just by themselves so you would

have to carry the watch or have the watch on plus your iphone. >> work in conjunction with your iphone. >> you're really becoming a zombie to the devices. >> everybody seems to be competing in the various different areas of wearable technology. >> this could be a billion-dollar revenue stream for billions of dollars in revenue for these companies. you look at some analysts, they're projecting that this could really be the thing to replace the iphone and to replace the smartphone. they are thinking this could be the next big thing. >> i'm curious about that. there's so much technology that appeals only to early adopters and there's other stuff, you look at the smartphone, every one of us here has one. everybody at home if they don't have one, they're hoping to get one. do you think it will fall in that category of only the super geeky? >> that's questionable. you may wind up seeing the younger set getting in on this first. it's hard to replace. maybe people like wearing their normal watches. hard to ditch your cartier for the big chunky thing. it's questionable whether it

will catch on. >> wouldn't it be nice to get it out of your hand, though? i feel like i'm always missing a hand. >> there is a style piece. >> i think it's a blend of the two. >> a harder hill to climb, you know? >> that's true. >> i'm with kate on this. >> the rolex smartphone. >> i'd rather have the cartier than the chunky thing on my arm and i don't want to talk to you on my wrist. >> in ten years we'll replay this and we'll all be wearing them. >> smartwatches for all of us, or not. >> time for today's must see moment, look at this picture, what do you think is happening? it is someone playing poker on his cell phone. that is john mccain, yeah, that's him, he was doing it during the senate hearing on syria tuesday, after realizing he had been caught red handed the senator smartly got kind of in front of the story and tweeted "scandal! caught playing iphone game at three plus hours senate hearing. worst of all, i lost!" >> isn't it all a big poker game

in the end? wasn't john mccain not doing anything wrong but doing something right, making it by metaphor what goes on in the hearings is poker. >> i'm not one here to defend john mccain or any other lawmaker but he is pretty plugged in on the issue and he probably already had the briefing. >> we live in a glass house throwing stones. we've all played a game inappropriately at some point. >> different responsibility levels. >> i'm going he wasn't playing a game, he was trying for a te metaphor, doubling down, upping the ante, all of these things relevant for the discussion. >> here is my question did you win the poker game, john mccain? >> he did not win. he lost apparently very big. >> another metaphor of the gamble that is going on right now. >> enough with metaphors. coming up next on "new day" the senate foreign relations committee could vote to approve

a limited military strike to punish syria for its alleged use of chemical weapons. we'll be live in stockholm, sweden, where the president is making his case overseas. more reaction to ariel castro's apparent suicide. the convicted cleveland kidnaper discovered hanging in his cell overnight in a prison in ohio. we'll hear from one of his family members live ahead. there's nothing like that feeling

of getting something new. and now, with verizon edge, you can experience that new phone thrill, again, and again, and again. phil can you close your new phone box, we're picking up some feedback. every time you're ready to upgrade. having what you want on the 4glte network you rely on. that's powerful. upgrade to the droid ultra by motorola with 0 down payment.

if you ever wonder how good serena williams is, just 52 minutes to obliterate her opponent in the finals. the coveted double bagel she got last night. >> fans barely had enough time to settle into their seats before serena barrelled through carla suarez navarro. that's what they call the double bagel in tennis, 6-0, 6-0, the first time in 24 years it's happened at flushing meadows. in the line-up section on bleacherreport.com, check out the best catch of the season arguably, rangers and a's, oerkland chasing after this foul ball and leaps over the tap to make the catch. check this out again, holds up the glove the entire time to make sure there was no doubt about catching the wall.

after he tweeted "thanks for all the love for catching the ball. i blacked out." broncos and ravens, fun facts about this season, more than 26 million people will be participate in fantasy football. women account for about 20% of fantasy players these days. the sports industry says it will bring in more than $1.2 billion this year. las vegas has the broncos beating the 49ers in the super bowl. i thought that this would be a good time for us to put our super bowl pics on the record. i'm a homer, texans over the packers. >> to me it doesn't matter who the other team is. the afc will win and it is a team known only during the season as the j-e-t-s, jets, jets, jets. and thank you for wearing their color, kate, i know you agree. >> i do not agree. i often don't know how they're broken up. could i say the colts versus the jets? >> you can but that will never

happen. >> why do you set me up to look stupid. >>are going to win. >> i'll pick the giants just to get your goat. >> that's okay, they're a new york team. they are not the j-e-t-s. >> that could take hours to get through. thank you, andy. >> andy is baffled with j-e-t-s, it's not that he can't spell, it's like what? they're the worst team i've seen. >> andy scholes are you on my team now? >> sure i am. >> that's how you answer the question, perfect. thanks, andy. he's like what just happened? we are close to the top of the hour which means it's time for the top news. the death penalty would be so much easier. you don't deserve that. you deserve to spend life in prison. >> breaking overnight, ariel

castro, the monster of cleveland who held three women captive found dead in his cell from an apparent suicide. >> president obama landed in europe preparing to pressure allies to support a strike against syria. back at home the key senate committee could vote on his plan today. big catch, the photos everyone is talking about, the amateur gator hunters who caught these giants, we'll hear from them this morning. why is gator hunt so long popular now? >> your "new day" starts right now. sxwla what you need to know. >> this is not the time to be spectators to slaughter. now we must stand up and act. >> announcer: what you just have so to see. this is "new day" with chris cuomo, kate bolduan and michaela

pereira. >> good morning, welcome back to nld nd. it's wednesday, september 4th, 7:00 in the east. we're covering a lot of news this morning. overnight we learned in the prison ariel castro was found dead in his cell last night, they say it was an apparent suicide. we'll explore how this could happen and talk to one of his family members live in a moment. if police think a principal is connected with her husband's murder why hasn't she been formally charged. and a dramatic twist, an update in the bitter custody battle over this little girl named veronica, her biological father is fighting her adoptive parents for custody rights. this heart-wrenching case has gone before the supreme court and a new ruling is giving her father a reason to hope this morning. we'll break it down for you.

corrections officials in ohio confirm ariel castro has apparently hanged himself in his prison cell. pamela brown is here with more details on the shocking twist. >> i just got off the phone with police, investigators are on the scene where ariel castro was found hanging in his cell last night according to prison officials, only there less than 30 days after being sentenced to life in prison. this morning many questions remain about how this could have happened. ariel castro's last public words delivered a month ago. >> i'm not a monster. i'm a normal person. i am just sick. i just act on sexual instincts. >> reporter: last night he was discovered at 9:20 hanging in his jail cell at the correctional receptions cell near columbus. he had been sentenced to life in prison plus 1,000 years for

kidnapping and sexually assaulting three women over a decade. he was being held in protective history, the only one in his cell with guards checking on him every 30 minutes. prison medical staff tried to revive him and rushed him to the ohio state university medical center. he was pronounced dead at 10:52 p.m. he received few visitors in prison. he daughter told cnn in may she wanted nothing to do with him. >> my father's actions are not a reflection of everyone in the family. i have no problem cutting him out of my life. i have no problem doing that. i never want to see him again. >> reporter: earlier this month, the house where castro tortured his victims was torn down. neighbors rejoicing during the demolition of the so-called house of horrors. at his sentencing he apologized to his victims but remained defiant keeping gina dejesus and amanda berry and michelle knight locked up in his house for

around a decade. >> i have a family. i do have value for human life. every time i came home, i would be so blessed for the situation. as crazy as it would sound. i am truly sorry for what happened. to this day i'm trying to answer my own questions. i don't know why. >> reporter: only one of his victims showed up in person to confront him saying she wanted him to spend the rest of his life in prison. >> the death penalty would be so much easier. you don't deserve that. i spent 11 years in hell. now your hell is just beginning. >> reporter: for his three former captives, ariel castro's death is yet another gruesome chapter in a tragic story. castro was in isolation, he was checked on every 30 minutes at the state prison but not on suicide watch like he initially was when he was first taken into

custody. back in may officials determined he was not a suicide risk. i've spoke on it a family friend of gina dejesus and told her family is aware of the news but have not released a statement yet. no word from the other victims this morning. still early obviously. lot of people coming to grips with this news, the city of cleveland expecting to release a statement around 8:30 a.m. eastern time. >> we'll wait to see what they say. pamela, thanks for that. >> it's going to sit heavily on both sides of this. let's bring in maria castro montez, cousin of ariel castro. she's joining us now by phone. can you hear me, maria? >> yes, i can dhaer yohear you. good morning. >> good morning. when you learned of this news, you said you were emotional, you cried. tell us why. what did it mean to you? >>. >> firstly i cried wondering if

gina a man da, and michelle, whether or not they knew, if somehow they had been contacted and i was just wondering what they were thinking and what they were feeling and as a mother and everything that gina dejesus' mom went through, i was wondering this man that did this to my daughter, would i be glad that he took his own life or would i be mad that he took his own life. you know, i cried for his mom. mother's love is unconditional and his mom had been visiting him in jail and this is a whole nother level of grief for her and what he did, no reflection on her, you know. she has to go through a whole nother level of suffering. i know his kids said they wanted nothing to do with them. all of us in the family said we didn't want anything to do with him any longer.

we had cut him off. none of us were going to go see him. this is all surreal. it's been surreal since the moment the news broke that he had even done this. so not a day has gone by where i haven't had all of these twirling around in my mind wondering why and how and just thinking back to the person that he showed the outside world. he lived that life that was the happy person that was the talented musician, that was posedly good and loving father and grandfather and then this dark horror going on behind closed doors, and you know, it was just -- it was just shock and part of it was even relief in hopes that now this will just

end all of it and that his name is not going to be out in the spotlight for years and years and years to come. i just hope these victims can move past this now. i know they wanted him to live out a life sentence, but really what was he suffering behind bars? i mean, getting three square meals a day, sleeping in a nice, warm, soft bed, you know, being basically watched over and guarded, making sure that he was safe. you know, those girls didn't even have that luxury when they were being held captive in his home. they were being raped. they were being tortured. they were being beaten. he wasn't getting any of that, so now he gets to meet his maker and you know, the ultimate price he'll have to pay, whatever -- i'm a god-fearing woman and whoever god feels is his punishment now, that's what he'll have to endure in his afterlife and maybe that's better punishment than he could have gotten here on earth.

>> i think you lay out everything that's going on here, there are so many play layers, so confusing. your word "surreal" seems to fit and you mentioned where he was in his head and what was prison doing to him. did you get any sense from family members about how he was experiencing his time in prison, what it was doing to him? >> no, because the only ones that had been visiting him were his mom and his sister, and i had not been in contact with his mom since this all happened, although she has been in contact with my parents basically telling them how she has been suffering but not relaying anything about him or his particular feelings or anything but of course we saw what we did during all of the court proceedings. he first didn't want to take responsible for anything.

he finally took responsibility and pled guilty but yet still threw blame toward the victims. so what was going on in his head during the jail time, who knows. i can't even still figure out what was going on in his head when all of this was happening for over a decade. >> maria, thank you so much for joining us and giving us the perspective this morning. you really lay it all out very eloquently and i appreciate you coming on "new day" to explain your family's take on this situation. >> thank you. thank you so much. i just hope everybody can just kind of close the book on this and move forward. >> i'm sure that sentiment is appreciated. take care. thank you. >> thank you. all right, bye-bye. >> very interesting. let's talk now, move to the other big story, president obama putting the case for striking syria on the world stage. the president arrived in stockholm, sweden, overnight. here at home a resolution

authorizing the use of force against syria is coming together in congress. the senate foreign relations committee will take up a revised authorization bill for the use of force in syria, secretary of state john kerry, defense secretary chuck hagel and joint chiefs chairman martin dempsey go before the house foreign relations committee after taking a grilling in the senate yesterday. russian president vladimir putin tells the ap if, if there is proof syria used poison gas he could then support a u.n.-led strike. very big if. that is a big part of this story going forward. we'll cover it like no other network can, we start with cnn's brianna keilar, she is with the president in stockholm. >> reporter: chris the president's visit to sweden is essential will i a social one. the swedish prime minister, frederick rhinefeld would like to see a diplomatic solution and on thursday and friday when

the president heads to st. petersburg, russia, for the g-20 summit officially it's an economic summit, the topic will be jobs. however, unofficially, syria will dominate in those discussions on the margins as it's said as world leaders talk to each other basically in the corridors of the summit. the president's overseas visit coinciding with an interview vladimir putin gave the associated press where he said it's absurd to say that syrian president bashar al assad used chemical weapons against his own people and also saying that if that were proven to be true, russia would be open to u.n. action. i'll tell you u.s. officials traveling with the president look on those comments and feel they're disingenuous and they stand by the intelligence they say proves assad did use chemical weapons against syrian civilians. kate in. >> brianna, thank you for that. the senate committee taking up that revised use of force resolution, it is expected to approve it, the bill that

resolution sets strict limits in time and scope for retaliatory strike against syria. let's go to cnn's new chief national security correspondent jim sciutto live in washington with more. the big question no one has an answer to, is this new draft enough to pass congress? >> you're right, and also the question whether they can get the support in the house, where the case for military action is moving today. the president already has two powerful endorsements for military action from senior republicans. house speaker john boehner and house majority whip eric cantor coming out in favor. the foreign relations committee will take up the draft for military force setting a clear definition of exactly how far these strikes will go. the revised authorization limits strikes against syria to 60 days with an option for an additional 30 days. it bans u.s. troops on the ground but it would permit a rescue mission if needed. the bill comes after three veterans who know the immense cost of war delivered an

impassioned case to senators, military action is right and necessary. are you going to be comfortable if assad as a result of the united states not doing anything then gases his people yet again and they the world says, why didn't the united states act? >> reporter: attempting to thread a political needle, the administration had something for supporters and skeptics of military action. for doves, strict limits on the scope and duration of any attack, for hawks, reassurance that the administration's larger strategy also includes strengthening the syrian opposition, but the administration faced hard questions from both sides. senator rand paul demanding the president abide by the congressional vote, win or lose. >> if we do not say that the constitution applies f we do not say explicitly that we will abide by this vote you're making a joke of us. you're making us into theater. >> senator, a sure you there's nothing meaningless and there is

everything real -- >> only if our vote makes a difference. >> reporter: from senator mccain, long a supporter of more vigorous involvement, bitter criticism of the president's decision to delay military action as he seeks congressional approval. >> when you tell the enemy you're going to attack them they're going to disperse and try to make it harder. >> reporter: the president received two powerful endorsements for military action, john boehner and eric cantor saying they will back him. the public is skeptical of military action in syria. chris, a new poll out yesterday from "the post" and abc news showing that 60% of americans oppose any strikes against syria whatsoever. >> all right, jim, you laid out the issues perfectly there. let's turn to how it's going to play out. the bipartisan resolution authorizing military force in syria was drafted in that senate

foreign relations committee. joining us now is the chairman of that committee, new jersey democrat robert menendez. thank you very much, senator, for joining us. appreciate it. >> good morning. >> first let's deal with how we believe this is being conducted among members of the senate. do you think that what you're dealing with is the raw questions of whether or not this is the right move and how you make it the right move or are partisan politics starting to show up here, democrats backing the president, republicans being reluctant to do so. what's your take? >> chris my sense is we're moving toward a bipartisan effort. senator corker the ranking republican on the committee and myself along with input from members on both sides have drafted a resolution that we think is tailored specific, meets the needs of the president to respond to assad's crimes but ultimately doesn't permit american troops on the ground

and has a 60-daytime frame, and so i think we have struck the balance here in terms of the competing views that we heard on the committee, which is probably reflective of colleagues in the senate, so i look at this as what i hope will be a bipartisan process. >> 60 days plus a provisional 30, how do you reconcile that with limited in scope and duration? that's a long time, two months. >> actually, under the war powers act, the president could have conducted an action unilaterally without congressional approval, and if that action exceeded 60 days, then he would have had to come to congress. so it seems to us that trying to limit the president to greater than what the statutory authority already provides him would have been wrong, and the 30-day extension which he would have to certify is necessary is subject to a vote of congressional disapproval if the congress believes it should not be extended for 30 days.

we're giving him what exists under the war powers act >> thank you for clarifying that. big part of the rationale for going into syria from lawmakers like yourself is the humanitarian aspect, what we're seeing on the ground, the needs of the refugees and the innocent. what are you putting into this resolution that addresses that? is this all about the military or is there also going to be aid included in this strategy? >> well, in the resolution, we speak about a broader serious strategy that we want the administration within 30 days of passage of the resolution to send us a broad, serious strategy that includes the military equation, it includes whatever diplomatic efforts to be made. you heard secretary kerry talked about geneva two where the russians were originally in agreement, it also talks about how we deal with elements of the humanitarian tragedy. the conclusion of this is really about the national security of

the united states and i think that case was made vividly yesterday in terms of what not only happens in syria but the global message we send as regards to violation of chemical weapons and iran, north korea and elsewhere. >> senator, help me with the timing here. the united states is planning to get out ahead of the u.n. here, the phrase "slam dunk" is being used once again in terms of our development of intelligence. is there concern that because of this distrust that exists around the world with regard to how we got into the iraq war and what the u.s. said about intelligence there that maybe you should wait, the united states, maybe you should wait, you lawmakers, until the u.n. and the international community has come to the same conclusions you have? >> well, chris, first of all, i voted against the war in iraq so i understand those concerns, but the intelligence here is clearly far more defined and a high degree of confidence in it, and it has been declassified to a

very large degree so that the american people and the world understand the backup for this. the frenk and the germans have come to similar conclusions in their own intelligence reports and the question of the united nations, we have tried to go to the u.n., even to get a condemnation of the use of chemical weapon, not even saying it was assad and the russians opposed even that simple recognition that the world recognizes that there was the use of chemical weapons. so we have tried the u.n. unfortunately, the patrons of assad have used their ability for their veto at the security council to deny a multilateral effort in this regard so that's why we have been proceeding as we are. >> you know that the american people when polled right now are below 50% on approving taking military action in syria. can you look into the collective face of your constituents in america and say this is the right thing to do.

this will work out well for america if we commit to an attack on syria? >> i take this obligation as do members of the committee and the senate seriously. i voted against the war in iraq when the vote for the war was popular. i voted against it. i have voted and advocated a quicker withdrawal in afghanistan. i believe that in this instance, not only is the punishment for the use of weapons of mass destruction spree ja chemical weapons in violation of international law and needs a targeted military response, but also we send a message to the ayatollah in iran, do not march toward the nuclear weapons you're trying to acquire, send a message to the dictator of north korea, serious about protecting south korea and the peninsula and that is our national security, that will ultimately make us safer and be a deterrent and i think that's why this is essential to do. >> senator me den nez thank you

for your perspective this morning. we know you expect a vote in short order. look forward to checking in with you again. >> thank you. a lot of other news developing at this hour, mick? >> thanks so much. let's give you an update on the long and intense fire fight in california that rim fire scorched more than 235,000 acres. it's now 80% contained and as firefighters continue to get the upper hand, the focus turns to a cause. fire officials say the inferno may have been started by an illegal pot growing operation. full containment of the fire isn't expected for another two weeks. a montana judge rethinking what many called the slap on a rapist's rich. judge todd baugh sparked national protest when he gave stacy rambold a to-day sentence. the 14-year-old girl committed suicide before the trial. aaron hernandez granted a

delay in a florida civil lawsuit filed by one-time friend who says hernandez shot him in the face, that man, alexander bradley, lost an eye. the judge approving the stay until criminal charges are settled. hernandez has been indicted for the murder of oden lloyd. toyota announcing two safety recalls involving some 369,000 vehicles worldwide. one deals with a hybrid system problem. in 2006 to 2010 highlander models and 2006 to 2008 lexus rx 400 vehicles. the other involves an engine boeltd defect in several lexus models from 2006 to 2011. researchers in peru getting a little too close to the belly of the beast, they were climbing a volcano when it coughed up steam and ash near them. they drove into a crevasse and escaped. the volcano erunned about a dozen times over the last few

days. they were crews from the peruvian geophysical institute to examine this and boy they got a front row seat to the action. >> beautiful sight though, albeit scary. >> that's why they were so quiet. >> very. let's talk about other weather, indra petersons with the forecast, probably still a wet one. >> a little wet and cooler. double bang for your buck. another cold front kicking through overnight into tomorrow. hint of a rain maker. it's dry as you see the temperatures go way down. i want to take you day by day. today new york city 82 degrees, binghamton 76. watch the front go through, 60s expected in northern new england and 70s in new york city, we take you through friday and we're going to be talking about temperatures dropping to the low 70s here. who likes heat, right? cold, rainy, perfect. >> roller coaster crazy. thanks so much, indra. >> sure. coming up next on "new day," new developments in the custody case over a little girl named veronica. she's nearly 4 now and

oklahoma's highest court is weighing in on the battle between her biological father and her adoptive parents. the surprising decision, it just doesn't end a head. a woman accused of murdering her husband but this morning a popular elementary school principal is free, all charges dropped. we'll tell you why. before mike could see his banking and investing accounts on one page... before he could easily transfer funds between the two in real time... before he could even think about planning for his daughters' future... mike opened a merrill edge investment account and linked it to his bank of america bank account to help free up plenty of time for the here and now. that's the wonder of streamlined connections. that's merrill edge and bank of america.

welcome back to "new day." a shocking decision in the custody battle over a little girl named veronica. the biological father of the 4-year-old cherokee girl had been locked in a heart-wrenching fight with their adoptive parents. for years this morning he has new reason for hope. randi kaye joins us with more. it has been back and forth and

back and forth. >> the search never ends. >> it's not ending any time soon. he has more new hope following this 80-minute hearing where both sides met with what they call a court referee, but dustin brown the biological father has always said the fight for veronica should take place in oklahoma because that is where she's been living the last year and a half or so with him when he was told he had to give his daughter back to south carolina. he took the fight to oklahoma courts and it seems oklahoma supreme court is defying a ruling by the u.s. supreme court regarding veronica's adoption. more than a month after he was ordered to hand over his biological daughter to her adoptive parents, the oklahoma supreme sort issued an emergency stay allowing dustin brown for now to hold on to his 4-year-old daughter, veronica. it's a move that shocked veronica's adoptive parents, matt and melanie capobianco of

south carolina. since four courts ordered the adoption upheld. brown has been fighting hard to keep his daughter since the adoption was finalized this summer. i spoke to him about the case while he was training with the national guard in iowa. >> i'm going to fight until i have no fight left in me, until they say you can't fight no more. i mean this is my daughter. this is not a yo-yo that i can just say hey i borrowed it for two years, here's it back. >> reporter: the capobiancos adopted veronica from birth. he asked for his daughter back citing a federal law designed to keep indian children in indian homes. brown is cherokee, but in june, the u.s. supreme court ruled the federal law didn't apply to this case. the adoption was finalized july 31st. >> we know better than anybody how it feels to have to hand over a child, and you know, we

understand the pain and what they're going through but one way or another she's going to come home. >> reporter: instead brown moved veronica to cherokee tribal land guarded by cherokee marshals. there's a gag order taking place so it's hard to know what's taking place in the hearings. late last night south carolina was granted a request to file a brief with the oklahoma supreme court on behalf of the couple. south carolina's governor weighed in basically asking the court to lift the emergency stay and send veronica home to south carolina with her adoptive parents. what is so amazing here is that four courts, including the highest court in the land, has ordered that she be returned to the capobiancos and somehow dusten brown managed to hold onto her and stay out of jail. >> the supreme court of the united states has ruled and they're defying that at the moment. only thing can be described as a legal mess. >> and dealing with two of the

most messy categories in the law, custody dispute and native versus domestic law. >> absolutely. that's why it's a big issue because a lot of people are being careful about the fact that he's part of the cherokee tribe. >> a dark history how children from the tribes have been treated. >> thanks, randi. coming up on "new day" a shocking development in the cleveland house of horrors case. ariel castro found hanged. how could this happen? wait until you hear what his family has to say. and also ahead we told you about two record-breaking alligators caught in mississippi. no doubt the catches are impressive, but the hunts are controversial.

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>> announcer: you're watching "new day" with chris cuomo, kate bolduan and michaela pereira. welcome back to "new day." it is wednesday, september 4th. let's get right to michaela for your top news. breaking overnight convicted kidnaper ariel castro is dead. correctional officials in ohio say he was found hanging in his prison cell, he was serving life behind bars plus 100 years for kidnapping three women and holding them captive in a suburban cleveland home for nearly a decade. president owe babama is in sweden. the senate foreign relations committee taking up a revised bill limiting the operation to 60 days, with no boots on the ground. john kerry and martin dempsey,

chuck hagel set to testify. in the first tv interview ali mansour called out turkey and qatar. he rejected claims deposed president hosni mubarak's regime is making a comeback. the man who police say drove into venice beach pleaded not guilty to killing an italian tourist and injuring nearly a dozen others. police say he intentionally aimed his car at the boardwalk on a crowded saturday night. if convicted campbell could get life in prison. john mccain busted playing poker on his phi phone during a senate hearing an on syria. he tweeted later "scandal! caught playing iphone game at three plus hours senate hearing. worst of all, i lost!" those are your headlines at this

hour, 7:37, let's talk to kate now. >> thanks so much, michaela. let's turn for more on the major breaking news overnight, convicted cleveland kidnaper ariel castro found dead hanging in his prison cell overnight. let's talk more about this and what this means for the victims specifically with psychotherapist dr. robi ludwig. no one saw this turn coming for good reason. you have this news but you also look back to the last time we heard from ariel castro in court and that disjointed, convoluted, twisted statement. what do you think brought him to this point, grief, relief or something more -- >> i wish it were grief. >> that's why people are having a hard time. >> my sense that ariel castro is probably somebody who contemplated suicide a lot and his ability to be able to torture these girls and control them and act out on these

abhorrent fantasies helped him to feel powerful and avoid suicide. so now he's in a situation where he's not in control and he's a bit of a control freak so suicide can be a way to take your fate back in control and another element, defiance. he wasn't going to let anybody else punish him. he would take matters into his own hands. there was a hostility there as well. >> talk about a twisted mind-set for sure. even his cousin who chris spoke with earlier in an emotional interview, she even tried to keep the focus, while we talk about the news, she even wanted to keep the focus on the victims, which is obviously very important here >> right. >> how do you think even though obviously we're not involved with anyone's recovery and everyone has their own recovery and it's specific to them, how do you think this news impacts their recovery? >> i would imagine that they're feeling numb and in shock and probably have a range of emotions from feeling glad that

this man can't hurt anyone anymore, can't hurt them anymore to feeling angry that he somehow side-stepped being funnished and maybe feeling guilty because they had wished him dead for so long and it's probably a bit different for amanda berry because she had a child with this man. does she tell her child? how does she deal with it in terms of her child's healthy development. >> even ariel castro's cousin on the show talked about a sense of relief. she almost felt bad feeling that way in light of someone's death. if you were working with any of these women, how would you break the news to them about this? some of them already know. >> in a black and white way, ariel castro committed suicide by hanging himself in prison and black and white any thoughts about that. they're going to have a reaction to it, and i this i they also need to know that just because this man is dead, the recovery

process is not over for them. it's a different chapter and part of their recovery process. >> it doesn't necessarily change or eliminate the need for their recovery. >> that's right. >> you cannot erase the pain that he caused. >> that's right. >> and the injury he caused for so many years. >> just because he's dead doesn't mean they'll not be struggling. it adds a new dimension to it. it's good they're getting professional help so they can deal with it in real time. >> and it's good we have you on the show. dr. ludwig thank you so much. chris? coming up on "new day" a popular elementary school principal arrested in connection with her husband's death. police insist they have the evidence, so why is leslie chance free? we'll go through it. and see you later, massive gators. we've shown you two enormous record-setting catches, but the hunt's come with some controversy. we'll take you through that, too. [ female announcer ] a classic macaroni & cheese from stouffer's

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welcome back to "new day." leslie chance was scheduled to be arraigned in the death of her husband but she is released without charges. stephanie elam is in los angeles with the latest for us this morning. good morning, stephanie. >> good morning, chris, kate and mikial. seemed like officials put together an air tight case that they had the evidence and then a surprise. leslie chance arrested in the shooting death ef her husband is a free woman this morning, she was released from jail after prosecutors declined to press charges against her at this time. the district attorney's office returned chance's case to the kern county sheriff's department seeking further investigation. her attorney told cnn his client

seemed -- >> rational, afraid, in shell shock as it were, lets ifted ou her world and into jail. you don't become a school principal if those things happen. >> reporter: the sheriff's department sounded confident the right person was brought into custody and says it has the evidence. >> we recovered a firearm, a handgun from inside of mr. chance's vehicle which was found abandoned in the neighborhood. >> reporter: the body of 47-year-old todd chance was discovered in an almond orchard. police believe after killing him leslie chance dumped his car some 20 miles away. the story is jolting bakersfield. leslie chance has been the principal of fairview elementary for three years and in the school district since 1997. she remains on bereavement leave from her job at the school. her attorney, a former prosecutor, has come out swinging. >> the best that i can hope for is that we have somebody doing a good investigation on the other

side. sloppy investigations lead to a lot of people's lives being wronged. and unfortunately, when you arrest the wrong person on a murder case, it's almost impossible to ever arrest the right murderer. >> todd and leslie chance have three daughters, and they put out a statement basically saying that they are grieving their father, but they are also supporting their mother at this time. no word yet on whether leslie chance will attend the funeral of her husband, which is scheduled for later today. kate and chris? >> so more to come there, but what a change and what we felt the direction would be. >> thanks so much, stephanie. coming up next on "new day," two different gators both caught in mississippi tipping the scales around 700 pounds but what one hunting team plans to do with its enormous catch. thank you orville and wilbur... ...amelia... neil and buzz: for teaching us that you can't create the future...

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welcome back to "new day." not one, no, but two massive record-breaking alligators caught in mississippi this weekend. we told you about them tuesday. each weighing more than 700 pounds. well, now, we'll hear from the hunters who caught those massive beasts. so, how did they do it? the only man to take on that task will be "early start" co-anchor john berman. >> how do they do it? very carefully. one interest group not happy about this, the alligators.

the hunters clearly thrilled the rash of gator hunter reality show and what they found this time a mammoth creature, two feet longer than the average american gator. at more than 13 feet in length and weighing in at 727 pounds, this gigantic gator caught in mississippi is a state record breaker. that's a little more than nine fifth great boys. not bad for dustin and ryan balkman, imature gator hunters. >> family got home and checking record books and taking measurements of them when we realized we had a fairly large gator. >> reporter: one hour earlier the old record had been broken by a female gator weighing in at 723.5 pounds. >> we actually tried for three hours to get this gator in a boat and we couldn't do it.

we had to drag him to a sand bar and sit and wait for cole's dad and another friend to come and help carry him into the boat. >> reporter: gator hunter has grown in popularity thanks to shows like "strong people" on history channel and "animal boys." many states requires tags or licenses to hunt alligators, however, there is also a lottery each hunting season and that's open to anyone regarding of training or expertise. what will the mississippi gator guys do with their larger than life catch. >> probably have a bunch of stuff made for people who dealt with getting him and help getting him weighed and everything. and have a lot of gator meat to go around. >> a lot of gator meat to go around. so, what does alligator taste like? chicken. chicken. it always tastes like chicken.

a cross between chicken. i have been checking some high cuisine sites and they say the tail meat is precious. it took so long to get the alligator out of the water that one of the girlfriends of the man sent him a text message at 4:00 in the morning ask, are you still alive? barely. thatigat gator was huge. >> one of the points of fascination of watching "swamp people" which is that they shoot these alligators and they'll say, i bet this thing weighs 400 pounds and then a technique of bending the head over and then slide these things. >> i have not seen it. is the gator alive at this point? >> no. the interest group most upset

about this is the gator. >> you only have a quarter-size target on the top of the alligator's head to kill it in a humane manner. will he do it and every time they go to commercial right before they do it and every time i'm like i don't know what's going to happen. >> you owe to america, chris cuomo, the dramatic reenactment. america needs to see you acting out "swamp people." >> i'm a big fan. he has signature line and a bobble head doll now. >> signature line, chris. >> shoot him, shoot him. a small alligator thrashing next to these little row boats. >> speaking of tastes, have you ever had it? >> i rolled around with a small alligator, but i've never eaten one. >> i cannot believe you didn't bring a photo in. >> can you? >> inquiring minds want to know. >> i've had it. >> is there anything you haven't tasted? >> many things. i had it fried and different

ways they make it, especially down there in louisiana. >> we'll have it on the show next. thank you so much, john berman. >> have to kill it yourself. coming up next on "new day" the drum beat to an attack on syria is getting louder than ever as the president takes the case to the world. what could happen to the middle east if the u.s. pulls the trigger? plus, shocking news out of ohio. ariel castro in his cell. we'll have the update at the top of the hour. [ male announcer ] it's called ocuvite. a vitamin dedicated to your eyes, from bausch + lomb. as you age, eyes can lose vital nutrients. ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients. ocuvite is uniquely formulated to help protect your eye health. now that's a pill worth taking. [ male announcer ] ocuvite. help protect your eye health. and now there's ocuvite eye + multi. an eye vitamin and multivitamin in one. and now there's ocuvite eye + multi.

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you don't do that. breaking overnight. aerial castro the man who held three women captive in cleveland found dead in his prison cell. we have all the breaking details. making his case. president obama arrives in europe and he's set to speak this hour trying to win support here and abroad for a strike against syria. we'll bring it to you live. thrown from the car. one young woman's nightmare. she says she was arrested unjustly handcuffed, thrown in a cop car and then tossed out of that car. we have the videotape. your "new day" continues right now. >> what you need to know -- >> this is not a declaration of war, but a declaration of our valus to the world. what you just have to see. this is "new day" with chris cuomo, kate bolduan and michaela

pereira. >> good morning, welcome back to "new day." it is wednesday, september 4th, 8:00 in the east. we are awaiting a live press conference from president obama and the swedish prime minister. he'll be speaking about 8:30 eastern from stockholm and you can expect tough questions from the president on that. the u.s. position on syria. we'll bring it to you live when it begins. start right here with breaking news this morning. aerial castro dead from an apparent suicide. he was found hanging in his cell. he pled guilty to holding three women captive in his home for about a decade. a plea deal motivated at the time for his desire to avoid the death penalty. his sentence was supposed to be life plus 1,000 years in prison. but it did not turn out that way. cnn's pamela brown working the story for us. what do we know for sure? >> a puzzling, shocking story twist in the case.

his attorney is stunned by the news and says he doesn't understand why he was only checked on just every 30 minutes and not put on suicide watch at the state prison where castro was being held for less than 30 days. at this hour, ohio state investigators are on the scene at that state prison trying to piece together how this could have happened. ariel castro's last public words delivered a month ago. >> i am not -- >> reporter: last night he was found dead, discovered at 9:20 hanging in his jail cell at the correctional center. his attorney is questioning whether or not it was suicide. >> i think it's so unusual for a prisoner who is in the system for only 30 days to be found dead in a cell. we don't know it is suicide.

the prison is going to conduct an investigation and we're also going to try find out what happened there. >> reporter: he was sentenced to life in prison, plus 1,000 years for kidnapping and sexually assaulting three women for over a decade. castro was being held in protective custody, the only one in his cell with guards checking on him every 30 minutes. prison medical staff trying to revive him and rushed him to the ohio state university medical center. he was pronounced dead at 10:52 p.m. castro received few visitors while in prison. his daughter told cnn that she wanted nothing to do with him. >> my father's actions are not a reflection of everyone in the family. i have no problem cutting him out of my life. i have no problem doing that. i never want to see him again. >> reporter: earlier this month, the house where castro tortured his victims was torn down. neighbors rejoicing during the demolition of the so-called house of horrors. at a sentencing, he apologized to his victims but remained

quiet about keeping them locked up in his home for around a decade. >> i do have value for a human life because every time i came home, i would be so glad of the situation. as crazy as it may sound and i'm truly sorry for what happened. to this day, i don't know why. >> reporter: only one of his victims showed up in person to convict him. she wanted him to spend the rest of his life in prison. >> penalty will be so much easier. you don't deserve that. i spent 11 years in hell. now your hell is just beginning. >> reporter: for his three former captives, ariel castro's death is just another gruesome chapter in the story.

he was not on suicide watch like he was initially right after his arrest. his attorneys are saying they were denied two requests for a psychiatric evaluation on castro and also we're just now learning that the three victims have been notified of this news, but not to expect any statement any time soon from them. obviously, still trying to come to grips with this shocking news this morning. >> right. we're trying to figure out why this happened, what the circumstances were and also what's going to matter most is the impact on the victims. later this hour, you'll hear from one of ariel castro's cousin. her emotional reaction to the latest shock to her family and what she says about what castro's fate should have been and how she is thinking about the victims this morning. turning to syria now. right now president obama is in stockholm, sweden, and in less than 30 minutes giving a news conference where syria will undoubtedly be a main focus and we'll bring that to you live when it happens. meanwhile, the senate

foreign relations committee will take up a plan to use force in syria. tells the associated press if there is proof that syria used poison gas, he could support a u.n.-led strike. cnn national security correspondent jim is live in washington with all the latest developments on this. good morning, jim. >> morning, kate. the administration has another busy, challenging day making the case for military action in syria. the president holding a press conference in sweden and at the bottom of this hour sure to be challenged about his proposal. dempsey will appear before the house foreign affairs committee today where there are many skeptics, particularly among house republicans and the tea party faction and in the senate, the foreign relations committee will take up that draft authorization for military force setting a clear definition of exactly how far these strikes will go. the revised authorization limits strikes against syria to 60 days with an option for a further 30 days. and explicitly bans u.s. troops

on the ground and would present a rescue mission, if needed. bills come after secretary hagel, kerry delivered an impassioned case to senators that the limited military action is right and necessary. >> are you going to be comfortable if assad, as a result of the united states not doing anything, then gases his people yet again and the world says, why didn't the united states act? >> attempting to thread a political needle, the administration had something for both supporters and skeptics of military action. strict limits on the scope and duration of any attack. for hawks, reassurance that the administration's larger strategy also includes strengthen the syrian opposition. but face stiff opposition from both sides. senator rand paul demanding the president abide by the congressional vote, win or lose. >> if we do not say that the

constitution applies and we do not say explicitly that we will abide by this, you are making a joke of us. >> senator, i assure you there's nugging me nothing meaningless and everything real. >> only if our vote makes a difference. >> reporter: senator john mccain supporters of more vigorous u.s. involvement, bitter criticism of the president's decision to delay military action as he seeks congressional approval. >> when you tell the enemy you're going to attack them, they're obviously going to disperse and try to make it harder. >> reporter: if you're getting a sense of some momentum towards a yes vote in congress, the president received two powerful endorsements for military action from senior republicans, house speaker john boehner and house majority whip eric cantor both going on the record saying they will support the organization. will they sway more skeptical members of the house?

chris? >> jim, you're asking the right question. thank you for the reporting this morning. one of the big concerns facing lawmakers is, would a strike on syria cause a domino effect in an already unstable region? let's bring in fareed zakaria, host of "fareed zakaria gps." welcome. >> thank you, chris. >> let's begin at 30,000 feet here. since june you were saying i xwoent know military action was the right move. do you still feel that way? >> i think that doing something to respond to the use of chemical weapons does make sense. the danger is, can you keep it limited because at heart we may want to look at this as a story about dictators and democrats about universal laws and values. at heart, this is a sectarian civil war. and by getting involved militarily, we're taking a side in a sectarian civil war. and have we thought that through? i heard a lot of senators saying we should do this because we don't want these chemical

weapons to fall in the hands of al qaeda-affiliated groups. but, remember, if assad gets toppled, many of the groups that are fighting him are al qaeda affiluted and, ironically, the toppling of assad are which would presumably be the best outcome from these strikes could result in new groups coming to power in syria that are quite clearly ambiguously affiliated with al qaeda. >> give some nalsis to two poin points. 60 days is what we're given, is that, in any way, a limited duration? and the perception why we're doing this politically. the united states looks weak if they do not. does that square with your perception which will be regarded as strength in the region. 60 days and how the international community will perceive this. >> the 60 days i would cut the president some slack. you don't want to signal to the adversary that, you know, if he waits a week, this is all over.

you want, you want, that's why it's in the war powers act. the president has a certain amount of room to maneuver. it's a very important question. you want to look strong once the president has made these commitments. that's why i say probably we do have to do something. but we can exaggerate this. we stayed in vietnam for seven years because we were worried about credibility. it turns out the soviet union wasn't looking at our strategy in vietnam it feared us because we were strong economically and strong in terms of our defense posture. at the end of the day people are looking to see if you're smart, not just going invade country. >> let's look at the lay of the land here and what we're dealing with. obviously, this is the immediate region. what i want to speak to, what i want you to speak to, syria is not an oil-producing country. when you look at what's around it, what does it mean for the implication for this action?

>> syria is in a crucial region and borders iraq and borders israel and borders lebanon and jordan and they could be spillover and clearly humanitarian spillover. let's remember, a decade of civil war in iraq, which is one of the world's major oil producing countries and bordering the persian gulf which is the key outflow of oil and didn't cause the price of oil to go up very much. they have a tendency to stay pretty contained. you had a civil war going on in syria for two yearess. it hasn't led to a spike in oil prices. >> when we talk about how this could spill over, we're showing the different regions that are unstable right now. this is something for us to keep in mind that you have turkey, iraq, jordan, lebanon, already unstable situations politically and civilly in each of those countries. >> that's the problem. the instability caused by the refugees who also add to the ethnic problem because they, they are of a particular background. again, the key thing to remember

here. there's a lot of this is about sectarian issues. >> we have groups of people moving into other areas and who is fleeing syria. look how big the numbers are, to give you that. which leads us to the idea of the task before the president. he's in sweden, but these are still his mandate, even if abroad, yes? >> most important one is the most difficult one, which is putin. because at the end of the day, the strikes are in military means. the end game presumably, unless you want to go and invade syria, the end point is a diplomatic solution which gets us out of power and gets a new regime in place and elections maybe at some point. for all of that, you need russia. while we've been denouncing russia and i understand they've been pretty nasty on this stuff. at the end of the day, the key to syria lies in russia. >> because the u.s. cannot be seen, as once again, forcing the situation abroad.

fareed, thank you so much. appreciate the perspective, as always. a lot of other news we're covering for you this morning. always here, the case on "new day" here's michaela. >> more signs of progress on the fire lines and northern california evacation orders have been lifted now for several communities once threatened by that wildfire burning aroundiosaroundi aroundioyosemite national park. the size seems to be holding steady. a montana judge under fire. he's ordering a new sentencing hearing for a former teacher that he originally sentenced to 30 days in jail for raping a 14-year-old girl. the judge has been blasted for his remarks that the victim, who committed suicide, was older than her age. bow baugh admits 54-year-old to serve a sentence. attorneys for james holmes

are arguing the death penalty in colorado. execution is cruel and unusual punishment. holmes stands accused of killing 12 people and woundering doing more. he pled guilty by reason of insanity. making a big push to have the 2009 ft. hood massacre designated as act of terrorism. nad nad a woman apparently taken into custody by the lapd for public intoxication is suing the department saying she was ejected from a moving cruiser back in march and that she couldn't have opened the door because she was handcuffed. security video from a nearby building. you can see the woman on the ground and lapd commander said the department will conduct an

internal review. a little something you probably won't see peyton manning doing any time soon. i'm please to tell you unicycle football lives, though. there's actually a league. ufl. the unicycling football league. the standard rules have been amended slightly. still plenty of tackling and general unicycle mayhem but so much more effective when it's in slow motion because it brings the intensity. >> unfortunately, not in slow motion as someone launches off a unicycle and hits you while you're trying to balance. >> shocking amount of padding. >> may i say in the appropriate areas. >> yes. >> x-games meet football. >> that is what you get. coming up next on "new day" the shocking news out of ohio this morning. one of the most notorious criminals. a heads up for you.

president obama and sweden right now while the debate over syria continues back home. we're expecting to hear from him live in the next few minutes. what will be his message to the world? you'll hear it here on "new day." ♪

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welcome back. here's what you're looking at. awaiting president obama to speak live in sweden. that's the shot up on your screen. but, first, we'll give you, when that happens we'll give it to you. first, breaking news overnight. the man who held three women captive in his home for a decade was found hanged in his prison cell. earlier we spoke with the cousin of ariel castro. here's a part of what she told us. >> not a day has gone by that i

haven't had all of these events just swirling around in my mind still wondering why and how and just kind of thinking back to the person that, that he showed the outside world. i mean, he lived two lives. that life that was the happy person, that was the talented musician, that was the supposedly good and loving father and grandfather. and then he had this dark war going on behind closed doors. and, you know, it was just, it was just shock. and part of it was even relief. in hopes that now this will just end all of it and that his name is not going to be out in the spotlight for years and years and years to come. i just hope these victims can move past this now. i know they wanted him to live out a life sentence, but really

what was he suffering behind bars? i mean, getting three square meals a day, sleeping in a nice, warm, soft bed. being basically watched over and guarded. making sure that he was safe. you know, those girls didn't even have that luxury when they were being held captive in his home. they were being raped and they were being tortured and they were being beaten. he wasn't given any of that. now he gets to make his maker and the ultimate price he'll have to pay, whatever whatever god feels is his punishment now, that's what he'll have to do ene in his afterlife and maybe that's better punishment than he could have gotten here on earth. >> made so much more interesting because she is his family member and such perspective and such respect for the victims here and eloquence about what this could mean. >> she believes, really, what a lot of people are thinking and struggling with this morning and when you hear that news and when

you hear what happened in cleveland in that home. coming up next on "new day," you're taking a look right now. taking a look at president obama. he's going to be making a stop in seede en wisweden. he is making a stop in sweden before he heads to a summit in russia. a press conference live with president obama in just a few minutes. but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now i can help make this a great block party. ♪ [ male announcer ] advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis

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you're watching "new day" with chris cuomo, kate bolduan and michaela pereira. welcome back to "new day." right now we're awaiting a news conference with president obama

and sweden's prime minister. they're set to speak any moment and we'll bring it to you live to stoke hole stalk holockholm. let's get right to michaela. number one, ohio prison officials investigating the death of ariel castro who was found hanging in his cell on tuesday night. he was sentenced it life plus 1,000 years for holding three cleveland women captive for a decade. strikes against syria appears to be picking up momentum. authorizes the use of force for 60 days with no boots on the ground. a man police say was responsible for driving into a crowd at california's venice beach due back in court today. nathan campbell has pleaded not guilty to killing an italian tourist and injuring nearly a doz dozen others. bill clinton speaking at his presidential library in arkansas. tried to overhaul health care during his presidency.

and at number five rapper, actor, 50 cent due in a courtroom for pretrial hearing on domestic violence and vandalism charge. his ex-girlfriend says he attacked her during an argument back in june. entered a not guilty plea. we'll update those five things to know so be sure to go to cnnnewday.com for the latest. >> thank you. we're looking live. stockholm, sweden where we're waiting anews conference with president obama and prime minister. let's talk about what's at stake here in this news conference. joining us to talk about it is john king and gloria borger joining us from washington. good morning. >> good morning. >> john, first to you, we were talking about this earlier in the show. there is a lot at stake in this press conference today. everyone is calling for the president to come out and make his case on the question of

force in syria. what are you listening for? we could expect that could very be the first question he's going to get. >> first you'll listen and see if the president has any update on his assessment on capitol hill. what you see is as important as what you hear. any international support that might make the american people and the u.s. congress say, okay, we're building a coalition here. but at the very beginning of this trip, not so much progress. standing there with the prime minister and the foreign minister said they believe assad is responsible, but they believe the united nations inspectors should report to the united nations and a u.n. process before there is any consideration of military action. even if the first stop here with the friendly government, a bit of hesitation to military action at least at this time. does that impact the debate back home, that is legitimate for members of congress and what do the people back home think? if the president can show momentum on the world stage, affect the dynamic here at home and, however, in sweden now and then going to russia to see vladimir putin and the optics of

progress don't seem, he and the president of france, excuse me, spent a lot of time together. those are the two guys on the same page and at the moment, that is it. >> putin isn't creating an issue. he gave his interview to the ap, he's saying, look, if you can show assad did it. he's throwing the ifs. let's bring in gloria borger, the issue is the international community still waiting to hear definitive proof in the u.s. we're hearing lawmakers kind of dismiss the u.n. and their investigation. what do you think the dynamic is? >> well, john kerry has dismissed the u.n. he said publicly we don't need to wait for them. we can establish a chain of custody and he said that, again, over the weekend. i think what is interesting for me to watch as this continues and they do get to russia and they do get to the summit is the way the president of the united states tries to kind of isolate putin from the international community. you know, as john points out, france, france will be with us.

and cameron is with us, personally, although he didn't get his parliament to go along. the president right now is in an international campaign to shift public opinion. not only in this country, but worldwide. if public opinion were to shift in this country, he'd be in a better position to make his case to the rest of the world. that is why we're seeing so many people out in these congressional hearings. john kerry made his case very forcefully yesterday alongside the secretary of defense and the chairman of the joint chiefs. we'll be having more hearings today on capitol hill. what we're going to hear on the hill today because they're testifying before the house side is a lot of negative response to them of what we call the no caucus from conservative republicans because they have no reason to vote with the president on this. the tough vote would be to say, yes, to force. the easy vote for them in their

districts right now is still to vote no. >> i think we can all agree either here or abroad. the president has a tough job ahead of him in this news conference. we're running behind schedule at this moment. no surprise when you have two world leaders trying to coordinate their schedules. let's take a break and be right back to cover it. in djibouti, africa. 2004. vietnam in 1972. [ all ] fort benning, georgia in 1999. [ male announcer ] usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaa's commitment to serve military members, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. bacon?! bacon? bacon! who wants a beggin' strip? meee! i'd get it myself but i don't have thumbs! yum, yum, yum, yum, yum... it's bacon!!! mmmmm...i love you. i love bacon. i love you.

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all right, welcome back. you're looking at a live picture of nothing. but what is supposed to happen is a major press conference between the prime minister of sweden and the president of the united states, barack obama. we expect that he is going to be asked during their q and a session about syria. the main question is how does he sell the potential military action to the u.s. to the rest of the world. to figure out what could happen here and provide some analysis john king, gloria borger and, of course, us. john, let's pick up on the

discussion that we were having off camera here. this is about what the right thing is. how do you define what is right? right for president obama's legacy, right for politics in the u.s., right for the people of syria. how do you define it here? >> that's the challenge the president has. in the short term he has to convince the american people what he is about to do and i don't think there is any doubt that he'll do this in the next week or two. he has to convince more of them. hopefully he wins the vote in congress. if he doesn't win that vote and he still has the constitutional authority in his view to act. what is striking to me is the moment is remember where he began. he came to international politics opposing the iraq war saying george w. bush awas too often a cowboy diplomat that went it alone and couldn't form coalitions because of the iraq war. look where he is now. he is about to start a military intervention in the middle east which he says the united states needed to get out of and having a very hard time forming a coalition. not all his fault. part of it is the circumstances

and the strength of the opposition and about to head into russia where president putin dug in hard on this one. but this is not the presidency and this is not a moment that barack obama envisioned and, yet, this could very well define his second term. >> gloria, john had said that in the near term, the president has to convince the american people that this is the right thing to do. you were talking about it. but, also, if you look at the poll numbers, maybe the most important thing for the president to do is to convince international allies. our key allies overseas to get onboard with this because the poll numbers are showing if allies are us with, more americans support intervention in syria. >> you know, this is such a moment for the president as john points out because in a way he now is being paralyzed, if you will, by the skepticism that he helped create about extended intervention. and, so, he has to overcome that because, you know, when he rose

to prominence as a politician, it was as an anti-war president. so, this is kind of a through the looking glass moment for him, i think. not only in terms of intervention in syria, but also don't forget, this is the president who had to defend to his liberal base the question of drone surveillance, the question of nsa surveillance and, so, he's had some problems with his own liberal base and now here he is. irony of all ironies trying to defend the use of force to the international community, as well as to skeptical democrats on capitol hill and, you know, some skeptical conservatives. so, it's kind of, sort of an odd moment for him. but when you know when he becomes president of the united states. sometimes you get to see things pretty differently and lots of democrats have pointed out that he seems a lot more like george w. bush saw them when he was in

the oval office. >> irony here because even though the poll numbers at home aren't strong right now. as much as the american people want to know what is in this for us. we don't want to risk our blood any more than we already have. abroad, you could argue a much more sophisticated and difficult question because they're asking why are you doing this to us, dot, dot, dot, again. the memories of iraq and the mistakes with intelligence, the u.s. forcing it to go alone. those are perceptions that are very likely fueled by what we are going to see in this process. right, john? >> what you see in great britain and public european polling is a lot of the post-iraq, we're not going down this path again. so, the president has to deal with that skepticism at home and deal with that skepticism overseas, as well. he's also trying to do something that is very hard. convince the american public that he can do this in a limited way and make a difference. you can, you know, everybody knows the united states has an arsenal of cruise missiles and we can launch them and punish

assad and the big question is, what does syria look the morning after this is over, the week after this is over, the month after it's over? are you doing it to punish him and still leave him in power? still leave him winning the civil war and maybe he won't use chemical weapons, but, still, to massacre his own people? the president has not yet made the convincing case of how this will change the dynamics on the ground in a way that changes syria and then the important part, benefits the people of the united states. >> you know what's interesting here is the debate on capitol hill for the last couple of days after people have seen the classified information has not so much been about whether assad has used chemical weapons or establish a chain of custody which, of course, is the debate from iraq. but it seems to me that people do seem pretty convinced by this, by this evidence. the debate really has shifted to the mission and there's two sides of that debate. number one, whether such a

limited mission can actually get the job done, as john points out. or whether, like john mccain believes, this limited mission is just a slap on the wrist and isn't going to do anything. then the question is, why would you do it if you wouldn't take out assad and you don't want to give ultimate authority to the rebels because you're not quite sure who they are. so, there are two different sides to the argument about whether the use of force will have the kind of impact and deterrence that the administration wants. but on the use of weapons itself, there doesn't seem to e be -- there are few people who believe you have established a chain of custody and doesn't seem to be as much skepticism on that point. >> let's bring in wolf blitzer, anchor of "cnn situation room." wolf, we've been kind of talking about what's at stake for the president here and abroad and what he needs to do in this press conference to win over skeptical americans. there are, clearly, all only tough questions and no easy

answer for the president at this point when he's about to take the podium. >> right. this podium is one sort of facet of what the president has to do. he has to win over american public opinion and international support, to be sure, the whole world will be watching the president at this news conference in sweden. then when he gets to st. petersbu petersburg, russia. but when all is said and done he has an issue in the house of representatives. almost certainly get the resolution passed today and almost certainly get enough votes in the senate, i think even if there's a filibuster, more than 60 votes in the senate to get this resolution passed in the senate. the key is the house of representatives. they formally come back into session on monday, as you know, he does have the speaker on board and majority leader eric cantor onboard. the number three is not yet on board. a whole bunch of other republicans and plenty of liberal anti-war democrats who are onboard. so, the key question is at what point, kate, what point does the president decide he will go into the oval office and address the

american people, look into the camera and give the speech that could sway the handful of votes he will need in the house of representatives. otherwise, if he doesn't get that vote in the house of representatives and it could come next week, he could still go on and do this limited air strike. the tomahawk cruise missiles, but if he doesn't get that vote, so humiliating and so embarrassing and sort of what the prime minister of britain has gone through after parliament refused to endorse the military option for britain. >> he still may need to make that primetime address it the american people in the oval office. that process of making his case also continues today when he is about to take the podium here in stockholm, sweden. let's take a break and be back to continue our coverage. [ female announcer ] you tweeted, posted and cheered

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all right. you are looking live at the podium in stockholm, sweden. we have been given the one-minute warning. they are walking in right now. president obama and the swedish prime minister. much-anticipated press conference. make opening statements and then take questions. >> so, it's a great honor and pleasure for me to welcome president barack obama to sweden. as you all know, this is a historic event. the first bilateral visit ever by the president of the united states to sweden. we have had a very constructive meeting. there are many reasons why the relationship between the united states and sweden is special. many swedes immigrated to the united states at the end of the 19th century and somewhere around 4 million americans today claim swedish heritage.

business ties fluorish between our two countries. sweden is, in fact, one of the largest investors per capita in the u.s. and we have considerable american investments in sweden. the united states is the most important foreign employer in our country. founded on the same core values. democracy, respect for human rights and rule of law. all these values are at the heart of the deeds. and i'm looking forward to the possibility to pay tribute this afternoon, a man who chose not to be indifferent and who saved thousands of hungarian jews from the holocaust. the united states and sweden also share ambitions when it comes to the opening of global trade flows. trade has laid the foundation of sweden's wealth and prosperity around 50% of our gdp comes from

exports. and sweden strongly supports open-trade regimes and, in particular, free trade agreement now being negotiated between the european union and the united states. this will not only bring more jobs and growth to both our c t conttinents it will strengthen our political and economic partnership. we also touched upon the economic situation in europe and in the united states. i mentioned that the crisis has hit countries in europe differently. sweden being one of those countries that has done relatively well during the crisis. but the need for structural reforms exists through europe to stay competitive. and at the same time, preserving all our welfare ambitions. we have also discussed climate change and its consequences. it represents one of the most important challenges to our

societies. sweden has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 20% since 1990. while gdp at the same time has increased by 60%. so, there is no contradiction between economic growth and the protection of environment. i welcome president obama's ambitious new climate action plan. u.s. admissions have in recent years already fallen substantially. your new plan will help the united states to make even further reductions. we have agreed to work together in the international climate negotiations to make sure that other countries also are prepared to cut their emissions. this is the only way we can protect our environment. we have discussed a few foreign policy issues, as well, and the most being the situation in syria.

sweden condemns the use of chemical weapons in syria and the strongest possible terms. it's a clear violation of international law. those responsible should be held accountable. sweden believes that serious matters concerning international peace and security should be handled by the united nations. but i also understand the potential consequences of letting a violation like this go unanswered. in the long-term, i know that we both agree that the situation in syria needs a political solution. so, thank you, once again, mr. president, for coming to sweden. i look forward to our program together this afternoon. >> thank you so much. hey. i've just exhausted my swedish. thank you so much prime minister for your very kind words in

welcoming me today. i'm proud to make the first ever bilatical visit to sweden. it's only been a short time, but i want to thank all the people here for the warm hospitality that has been extended to me and my delegation. this is one of the spectacular cities. it is spectacierly beautiful. the weather is like this year round and, so, like so many who have come here, i feel stockholm in my heart and i'm sure that i'll want to bring back my family to have a visit some time in the future. i've said before that it's no accident that democracies are america's closest partners, that includes sweden. that's why i'm here today. as free people, we recognize that democracy is the most effective form of government for recognizing prosperity and freedom to people. and two of the most innovative

economies on earth, we cherish that freedom that allows us to innovate and create, which is why we're leaders in science and research and development. those things that pioneer new industries and broaden our horizons. we share a belief in dignity and equality of every human being. that our daughters deserve the same opportunities as our sons. that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters must be treated equally under the law. that our societies are strengthened and not weakened by diversity. and we stand up for universal human rights. and not only in america and europe, but beyond because we believe that when these rights are respected, nations are more successful and our world is safer and more just. so, i want to thank sweden and the swedish people for being such strong partners in pursuit of these values that we share.

the partnership is rooted in deep friendship, but it was also mentioned we have very strong people-to-people ties. my hometown of chicago has a lot of people of swedish decent. vice president biden was honored to welcome king and queen silvia to the united states to mark the 375th anniversary of the first swedish colony in america and i'm looking forward to visiting with the queen and king tomorrow. i should mention on behalf of hockey fans back home in chicago, i have to say how grateful our championship blackhawks are for their several teammates that hail from sweden. that's an excellent export that we gladly accept. i had a chance to visit with prime minister reinfeld during my first year in office at the white house and he has always proved to be a thoughtful and

deliberative partner on a whole host of international issues and i'm pleased that we were able to strengthen that relationship in our discussions here today. we, of course, discussed the appalling violence being inflicted on the syrian people by the assad regime, including the horrific chemical weapons attacks two weeks ago. i discussed our assessment and the prime minister and i are in an agreement that in the face of such barbism the international community cannot be silent and that failing to respond to this attack would only increase the risk of more attacks and that possibility that other countries would use these weapons, as well. i respect and i said this to the prime minister, the u.n. process, obviously, the u.n. investigation team has done heroic work under very difficult circumstances. but we believe very strongly with high confidence that, in fact, chemical weapons were used and that mr. assad was the source.

>> we want to join with the community in an effective response that deteres such use in the future. i updated the prime minister on our efforts to secure congressional authorization for taking action, as well as our effort to continue to build international support for holding the assad regime accountable in order to deter these kind of attacks in the future. we also discussed our broader strategy. the united states and sweden are both major donors of humanitarian assistance to the syrian people. we will continue those efforts. we're going to continue to try to strengthen the capabilities of an inclusive representative opposition and support the diplomacy that could bring an end to all the violence and advance transition and a future in syria where all people's rights are upheld. those are people's rights that we share.

we will keep working towards those dwoels and given sweden's close partnership with nato, we also touched on some of the other security challenges and i expressed my appreciation for the extraordinary work that the swedish armed forces has done in a whole range of issues, including afghanistan efforts to resolve some of the conflicts in central, eastern europe and the ongoing training that's also being provided and the good example that's being provided by swedish armed forces here in europe. mindful of the jobs that are supported by trade between our two countries, we discussed ways to partner more, including creating a clean energy partnership that creates jobs and combats climate change effectively. sweden is, obviously, an extraordinary leader when it comes to tackling climate change and increasing energy efficiency and developing new technologies.

and the goal of achieving a carbon neutral economy is remarkable and sweden is well on its way. we deeply respect and admire that and think we can learn from it. in the united states we have taken some historic steps doubling our electricity from wind and solar and improving the fuel efficiency of our cars and reducing our carbon pollution to the lowest levels in nearly 20 years, but we all know we need to do more. my new climate action plan more clean energy, more energy efficiency, less emissions. will allow us to do even more in the years to come and we look forward to a close partnership with sweden on what is going to be a global challenge. and that the royal institute of technology today, i look forward to seeing some of the innovative ways we can cooperate. we also talked about trade and the transatlantic trade and investment partnership and i want to thank sweden and the

prime minister for the strong support of these negotiations and i believe for the u.s. and the eu to reach a high standard, comprehensive agreement can create more jobs and opportunity on both sides of the atlantic. as i head into the g-20, i shared my view that here in europe and around the world, we've got to stay focused on creating jobs and growth. that's going to be critically important. not only for our economies, but also to maintain stability in many of our democracies that are under severe stress at this point. finally, i want to salute sweden along with all the countries for your strong support for democracy and development. strengthening democratic governance in eastern europe and global efforts against aids, tb and malaria, responsible development in africa. i want it thank in advance the prime minister for hosting our meeting tonight with the leaders

of other countries and i look forward to our discussion. thank you so much for your hospitality, to the people of sweden, thank you. this is a wonderful visit and i'm looking forward to it producing concrete results that will enhance the lives of both the american people and the people of sweden. so, with that, i think we'll take some questions. >> yes. we'll now open the floor for questions. the first question goes to sweden news agency. >> welcome to sweden. >> thank you. >> the affair has stirred up quite a few angry reactions. what do you want to say to those upset and how do you think the affair affects the relationship between our countries. and as a follow up to that, i know that at home you're sometimes accused of wanting to turn the u.s. into sweden.

now that you're here, you have been here for several hours, what have you seen? what actually inspires you? what do you want to import to the u.s. in terms of ideas for a society? >> well, let me, let me take the nsa question first. because this is a question that i received in previous visits to europe since the story broke in "the guardian." and i suspect i'll continue to get, as i travel through europe and around the world for quite some time. like other countries, we have an intelligence operation that tries to improve our understanding of what's happening around the world. and in light of 9/11, a lot of energy was focused on improving our intelligence